In the Beginning: 1855
Each week The American Israelite will print an item from the first years.
Foreign Intelligence
Frankfort O.M. — The French Academy of Science has awarded Mr. Schiff, Doctor of Medicine, the first prize of 2000 francs, for his “Inquiries into the influence of the nerves on the nourishment of the bones.”
— March 2, 1855
150 Years ago
Items
– The Kansas Legislature has dispensed with chaplains and substituted services of religious members in its own body.
– A student who had been afflicted with a sermon an hour and a half long grumblingly says that those professors study so much about eternity that they have no conception of time.
– There are thirty-four publications in Colorado, of which seven are daily.
– A small Aberdeen child, being asked by her Sunday-school teacher, “What did the Israelites do after they crossed the Red Sea?” answered, “I don’t know, ma’am; but perhaps they dried themselves.”
– Don’t bother editors when busy. Quilp stepped into the Imperial sanctum this morning to ask what he’d better write about.
“Write about?” growled the disgusted editor. “I think you had better right about face.”
– A shoemaker living in a garret in Soho, England, bore off the prize for grapes at the recent Crystal Palace Exhibition, at which Baron Rothschild and many of the nobility were exhibitors. The shoemaker’s bunch was the largest and heaviest, and the bloom was perfect.
Foreign Record
A new Hebrew periodical has been started with this new year, in Sziget, Hungary. It is published in a fluent and pure Hebrew style, and advocates orthodox principles; the editor is Mr. Abraham Ginzler. Every lover of the holy ancient tongue will congratulate with delight such publications, as they indicate the increasing interest which our European co-religionists take in the cultivation of the Hebrew tongue, which is by no means to be considered a dead language.
— February 27, 1874
125 Years ago
Did you ever think of the fact how thinly Canaan must have been settled when the Israelites came into the land, if Joshua in his topographical chapters (14-18) does not name fully one hundred towns? Rabbi Jose bar Chanina thought of it, and says so in Yerushalmi Meguillah I., without calling attention to the fact that these chapters must have been written at a very early stage of history, when the whole country had but one hundred towns.
Jottings
– Rumor has it that Czar Nicholas has lost his mind and that the Grand Duke Michael is wielding the executive power of the Russian government.
– We must insist that correspondents of the Israelite, whether regular or occasional, shall sign their names on their communications. These will not be published.
– Baron Julius de Reuter, the founder of the great European news agency, died at Nice, aged 83 years. He was of Jewish birth.
– It would be a great pity should Rudyard Kipling not survive his present illness. His death would be a calamity to the English speaking peoples. He is a very young man and it is to be hoped that he will recover and have to grow old enough to outgrow the narrow interlace which he has been in the habit of exhibiting in his judgment of Jews.
— March 2, 1899
100 Years ago
Jottings
– An English bishop when told that there was no special prayer for theological students in the Anglican prayer book, wittily suggested the use of the “prayer for those at sea.”
– A temporary cessation of excavation at the tomb of Tutankhamen has been ended by the Egyptian Government granting the Countess of the Carnarvon a new concession. (This, it seems probably, would permit the resumption of work at the tomb by Edward Carter, who has been acting for the Countess.)
Editor’s Note: The Earl and Lady Carnarvon were the original financial backers of Howard Carter’s excavation (incorrectly named Edward here) of Tutankhamen’s tomb. At the time, the contents of the tomb would have been considered their property. In 1925 the Egyptian government offered £36,000 in exchange for her claim on the material found in the tomb.
– Reduction in the journey from London to Bagdad to six and one-half days has been accomplished by the establishing of a motor mail service between Beirut and Bagdad. The service is the project of a British company. Great increase in tourist traffic is looked for as a result of the innovation.
– At a recent meeting in New York City, a committee, of which Dr. Cyrus Adler is Chairman, passed resolutions to inaugurate a campaign among Jewish students in American colleges and universities to persuade them to make the Rabbinate their career. The movement is one of the activities of the New York Jewish Theological Seminary.
– In a Wilson Memorial Sermon, preached by Samuel B. Kaplan, of Tulsa, Okla., he pled for an enabling amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which would permit Congress to establish a Federal Child Labor Law that previously passed having been declared unconstitutional. He called attention, also, that Oklahoma was one of only eight States which have taken up this matter and made adequate adjustment.
— February 28, 1924
75 Years ago
Dr. Saks New Leader of American Council; Officers, Board Named
Dr. Leon Saks is the newly elected president of the Cincinnati Chapter of the American Council for Judaism. He is the immediate past president of Rockdale Avenue Temple.
In accepting the chapter presidency, Dr. Saks said “The American Council for Judaism reaffirms the ancient truth that the religion of Judaism is the connecting link between Jews, and that here in America religious freedom exists. There is complete harmony between the Faith that is Judaism and the Spirit that is Americanism.
“The American Council for Judaism seeks to inculcate in our American Jewish children the love of our homeland, the United States of America, and a devotion to our Faith, Judaism.
“We are ready to support the humanitarian, religious or cultural institutions in the State of Israel without accepting any political ties with that state or the theory that any Jews not living in Israel are “in exile.”
At Cincinnati Garden
The story of Aladdin and his wonderful lamp is brought to life on ice in one of the episodes of “Ice Folllies of 1949,” the musical extravaganza on ice to be presented at the new Cincinnati Garden, 2250 Seymour Avenue, Cincinnati, March 16th – 22nd.
Hazel Franklin plays the title role and combines the use of pantomime and interpretive skiing with her natural skating talents.
— March 3, 1949
50 years ago
Bas Mitzvah
We would be honored to have you share with us the joy of the Bas Mitzvah of our daughter, Betsy Diane, on Friday, the eighth of March 1974 at 8:15 P.M.
Please join us for the Service and Reception at Adath Israel Synagogue, Ridge and Galbraith, Amberley.
Betsy is the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Stanley Lucas and the granddaughter of Dr. and Mrs. M. S. Schulzinger and the late Mr. and Mrs. Morris Lucas.
No cards.
Judy and Stan Lucas.
Bar Mitzvah
– Mr. and Mrs. William Rosenthal cordially invite their friends and relatives to join them in worship in honor of the Bar Mitzvah of their son, Martin Sanford, Saturday, March 9 at 9 a.m., at Golf Manor Synagogue.
There will be a Kiddish following the service.
Martin is the grandson of Mrs. Gisela Rosenthal and the late Mr. David Rosenthal and Mr. and Mrs. Morris Hazen.
– We would be pleased to have you share with us at the Bar Mitzvah of our son, Mitchell Keith, on Saturday, Mar 9, at 9 a.m., Adath Israel Synagogue, Ridge and Galbraith Roads, Cincinnati.
Friends and relatives are cordially invited to attend the Kiddish immediately following the service.
Marilyn and Al Cohen
— February 28, 1974
25 Years ago
Jewish Foundation offers Yavneh $4 million
By Ellen Finkelman
Editorial Assistant
The Jewish Foundation will provide a matching rant up to $4 million for Yavneh Day School’s capital campaign to expand the school’s building. For every dollar Yavneh raises, the Jewish Foundation will donate $2.50 up to a total of $4 million. The deadline for the capital campaign will be decided at a Jewish Foundation meeting on March 10.
Ben Gettler, president of the Jewish Foundation, made the announcement at last Sunday’s dedication ceremony for the school’s recent additions — phase one of Yavneh’s two-phase plan.
Yavneh’s president, Dr. Jeffrey Zipkin, did some research and concluded that the Foundation’s donation of $4 million to Yavneh would be the largest contribution ever made to any Jewish institution in Cincinnati.
Weiland receives community service award
By Brian L. Meyers
Managing Editor
Community activist Dick Weiland received a community service award at last months’ biennial legislative reception hosted by the Government Affairs Committee of Ohio Jewish Communities.
According to Joyce Garver Keller, executive director of the GACOJC, Weiland has been instrumental in getting funding for social services for immigrants and refugees, in Cincinnati and elsewhere in Ohio.
— March 4, 1999
10 Years ago
Bret Caller newest trustee of the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati
Bret Caller, an active and accomplished Jewish and civic communal leader, has been appointed as the newest member of The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati’s Board of Trustees. The Foundation Board appointed Caller to serve out the remaining term of Benjamin Gettler z”l, who passed away last year.
Caller, the Immediate Past President of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati and a dedicated volunteer in several Jewish and other charitable causes, will be eligible for election to a full term when the Foundation convenes its Annual Members meeting in October.
“Bret has demonstrated a deep commitment to the growth and vibrancy of the Cincinnati Jewish community. He is held in extraordinarily high esteem by our Trustees and by our community’s leaders,” said Jewish Foundation President Michael R. Oestreicher. “In selecting Bret for the Foundation Board, the Trustees chose someone with strong vision, an intimate knowledge of our community organizations and a clear sense of responsibility for stewarding community resources.”
— February 27, 2014
